Sheepish

I have this weird defect in my Procurement psyche.

You’d think I’d be over it by now.

Oh well.

Here’s the story:

The Client wants to buy some nifty little networking doo-dads from a fairly small local company.

They want to buy A LOT of doo-dads, and the totals got the dollars well up over the clip level by which our SOX policies say we have to have a contract.

So I contacted the supplier. They are a very small operation.

I put on my best “neighbor next door voice” and told him that 1) we wanted to buy the stuff that he’d quoted, 2) the price was fine and 3) we just have one small problem. We need a contract.

He hesitated and gulped.

“Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll make it easy. I have a really good template. It’s short and really pretty lightweight, but it gets the job done,”

I continued:

“In fact, most of suppliers just sign it without making any changes.”

Then here’s where I reel him in:

“By getting this done, it makes it a lot easier to do business with you going forward.”

Now, what is this guy motivated by?

Money.

I know this (use what you know for sure in negotiations!)

So here’s what I’ve laid out from the Sales Guy’s perspective:
Great Big Company wants to give me money.
They have sent me a contract that they think is fair.
Small companies don’t have in-house council, so it costs money (like $400 an hour) to have Legal review.

Conclusion?

He signed it and sent it back within the hour.

Ok, to be fair, it really is a decent contract. If I was a supplier, especially a small one, I’d probably sign it. Maybe a few tweaks here and there.

I guess I feel sheepish because for a moment, I was the Big Bad Wolf.

Can I be both the Big Bad Wolf and sheepish at the same time?

Identity crisis!

What I am is a negotiator in charge of protecting The Company. Everyone is happy. Client gets their doo-dads, Supplier gets their money and Procurement keeps everyone’s heiney out of a sling.

A good day, all in!